User comment history
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| News Comments > More on Valve and Activision |
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| 7. |
Valve's track record |
Apr 5, 2003, 13:02 |
Ratty |
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"Valve has a proven track record of creating ground-breaking games with worldwide appeal" As much as I try to stay away from the Valve bashing threads I just couldn't let this quote go by without a choice comment. Except now I can't think of anything to say.
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| News Comments > On Jedi Knight III |
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| 31. |
Re: Stop Raven Bashing |
Mar 31, 2003, 13:09 |
Ratty |
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Ha! Except for JK 2 and Hexen 2 I can't think of any game using the Quake engine that was any good except for the original Quake. On the other hand I can think of LOTS of games that used the Unreal Engine that were fantastic. Lots and lots of them. Don't know why that is. This is all IMHO of course. For some reason Unreal-powered games are almost always great while I've never liked any Quake-powered ones. I'm no fan-boy, that's just my experience. I'm not bashing the Quake engine either.
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| News Comments > On Jedi Knight III |
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| 15. |
JK II was great |
Mar 31, 2003, 11:06 |
Ratty |
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And I though I was picky! I'm the big sequel-hater on this board. I've hated everything Raven has done since Hexen II. But even I loved JK II and I was big fan of the LucasArts originals. They really brought the light saber into its own in that game. The way you could throw it, block with it, the solid satisfying swing of it. It's hard to see how they could possibly improve on it. The force powers in the game were perfect. They were greatly simplified and that made them better and easier to enjoy (like force gripping a baddie and throwing the light saber at him while he dangled there choking). It was a blast force-jumping to great heights too.
When I blast a game on this board I always give reasons and acknowledge things that are personal preferences or pet peeves. Why exactly did you not like JK II?
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| News Comments > Deus Ex: Invisible War Preview |
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| 5. |
Re: What if ... |
Mar 26, 2003, 12:36 |
Ratty |
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But I've been so disappointed by all the sequels lately that I thought for sure would rock but ended up sucking. There's been a lot of those the last year or two. I'm becoming pessimistic. Still, your point is a comforting one. Warren has yet to produce a loser.
But I mean think about it. Those guys are REALLY pushing the envelope. They're doing things that as far as I know have never been attempted. They're making a LOT of changes to the gameplay. Now I really admire and appreciate that. If, god forbid, it does suck I would definitely forgive them. They're making it so you can get through the whole game without touching a weapon. As a stealth player I love the idea but what if it makes the game too easy or boring? Supposedly the game branches. There are areas of the game you can end up not ever seeing or experiencing based on decisions you make. Yay! The holy grail of gaming! What everybody's always wanted. But what if it doesn't work? There are gamers who are obsessed with seeing every last bit of the game, finding every secret, exploring every subplot. Will this only result in a huge frustration for them?
I'm glad they're doing everything they're doing. I'm looking forward to Specter expanding the genre and laying a path for other developers to follow. But what if it just doesn't work. That's all I'm saying. Entertain the possibility.
This comment was edited on Mar 26, 12:55. |
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| News Comments > DX2: Invisible War Q&A |
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| 1. |
Multiplayer |
Mar 23, 2003, 12:16 |
Ratty |
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Our team is focused on creating a fantastic single-player experience. There are currently no plans for a multiplayer addition.
Is this like from a script all the developers pass around? They never just answer the question, they have to describe how they're making the best single player "experience" ever. And the wording is almost always exactly the same. Those dev guys sound like bean-counting marketing suits when you keep barfing up phrases like that. Geez, think of something original for a change.
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| News Comments > Windows Security Flaw |
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| 19. |
Re: Agreed |
Mar 20, 2003, 15:05 |
Ratty |
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The big difference is that other companies make solid, robust operating systems. Microsoft makes a weapon. Windows is not an OS. It is a weapon. MS loads it with so many features and crap that have no business being in an OS solely to dominate other markets. They made MSIE and Outlook so that it could do EVERYTHING. Including fuck up your system.
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| News Comments > Windows Security Flaw |
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| 7. |
Re: pft ... |
Mar 19, 2003, 18:42 |
Ratty |
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"the flaw is actually turning the damn Window's machine on!"
As usual this is an Internet Explorer/Outlook Express security flaw, not a Windows flaw. I don't use either so these security alerts never apply to me. Why ANYBODY would use them to read mail is beyond me.
This comment was edited on Mar 19, 18:43. |
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| News Comments > On Half-Life 2 |
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| 8. |
I believe it |
Mar 15, 2003, 13:30 |
Ratty |
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Valve's playing it smart. They remember Daikatana and DNF. Saying absolutely nothing until they're ready. What do you think the company has been doing all these years? Working on Steam? Spending all their time overseeing expansions OTHER companies are doing? They have had no choice other than to say nothing. Remember they scrubbed the first almost-complete Half Life and completely redid it from scratch. They realized they might have to do the same with Half Life 2. Valve's taken a lot of flak over their silence but far less than if they'd announced it then pushed it back a year or year and a half.
2003 is going to be the best year in games EVAR!
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| News Comments > Indiana Jones Gold |
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| 14. |
Re: Hmmm |
Mar 14, 2003, 17:01 |
Ratty |
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Thanks #8. I think I'm excited. I always loved these Indiana Jones adventure games and adventure games in general. Good to know this one's fun. It's been so long (years) since I played one I'm not sure whether my tastes have changed in the meantime. I hope I can get my hands on a demo first.
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| News Comments > NOLF2 Add-on & MP Plans |
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| 56. |
Re: Chance |
Mar 12, 2003, 11:16 |
Ratty |
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"It's going to be funny the first time through, for a few levels or so, and then it will get really old really fast (imho)... "
Then it's a good thing it's only an expansion. Maybe it will be fun for just the right amount of time.
Op4 was an interesting experience for me. I really disliked it when I played through it the first time. It sat around for quite awhile until I got Blue Shift. After I played Blue Shift I tried Op4 again and thought it was great. This is similar to what I thought about Quake. I was disappointed when it first came out (too brown) but I have played it many times since I now I think it's a truly inspired game. This is mentally disturbing. How can any developer hope to please the likes of me?
I was mad when I read yesterday that they would be totally dumping the stealth in the NOLF2 expansion, but I decided I'll go ahead and get it anyway. IMO stealth done bad is way worse than no stealth at all. It could be pretty fun and I have lots of money anyway so what the hell ...
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| News Comments > NOLF2 Add-on & MP Plans |
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| 35. |
Re: NOLF2 |
Mar 10, 2003, 13:42 |
Ratty |
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Sorry Jedi Master. I did not mean to put opinions in your mouth. Your comments were almost all critical so I did assume you didn't like NOLF2.
These are interesting comments. Yes it seems to be very tough for developers to create sequels because of the two camps described. I've always suspected my expectations for sequels were unrealistic since I have universally hated just about all of them. As you can all tell I'm in the "they changed it too much" camp. Just about every sequel to a game I have originally loved I end up hating. A lot of the time it has been because they took away some power or strength in the name of "balance," and cool things you used to be able to do you couldn't anymore (and I'm talking about SP games here, not MP). I loved Blood but they watered down all the weapons so they hardly did any damage in Blood 2. I adored Dungeon Keeper but I disliked DK2 for the same reasons (Like NOLF2 I'm in the minority on DK2. Most people loved it). I loved Diablo but hated Diablo 2, but really only because they eliminated in-game saving. I liked both Thief and Thief 2 but the sequel was clearly inferior to the original and I felt they really screwed up some of the levels. I loved Heretic but hated Heretic 2 but that was just because of the change to 3rd person view (again Heretic 2 was widely heralded by everyone else who played it). So I admit I'm too picky or too unrealistic or overly tinged by nostalgia.
But there are a few sequels I thought were as good or better than the originals: Jedi Outcast. Brilliant game. And Raven did change quite a few things, like the RPG elements, but I thought they were all an improvement. Hexen 2. This couldn't have been more different than the first Hexen (so I'm not complaining that they changed it too much), but I loved it even *more* than the original. Daggerfall was even better than Arena (but Morrowind not as good). And who can forget System Shock 2? The entire Redneck Rampage series only got better and better.
I expect Elite Force 2 will be better than the first, but that wouldn't be very hard to do. I am very interested to see whether I will like Deus Ex 2 and Thief 3 since I loved the originals so very much. In Thief 3, things like guards seeing your shadow makes me nervous. The stealth in the first two versions was unrealistic, but the simplicity made it all a hell of a lot of fun. I worry they will complicate things up too much. I've never been a graphics whore. How the game looks is the least important factor to me, so I really could care less about the engine they use.
Okay, now I KNOW nobody will ever read this. It's two days old!
This comment was edited on Mar 10, 13:47. |
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| News Comments > It Came from GDC, Part 2 |
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| 3. |
Thief 3!! |
Mar 9, 2003, 14:12 |
Ratty |
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"As far as Ion Storm's other in-development game, the sneak-action sequel Thief III, we were told to expect a big publicity push for that game at next May's Electronic Entertainment Expo."
Aha! At last! Thief 3 information. The media blackout is coming to and end. (Except now I have to decide whether I'll read any of it and be totally blown away by the surprise that is the game (oh, who am I kidding? I'll read every juicy morsel!))
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| News Comments > NOLF2 Add-on & MP Plans |
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| 21. |
Re: Woohoo! |
Mar 9, 2003, 13:19 |
Ratty |
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Interesting Jedi Master. We both disliked NOLF2 but for different reasons. I agree with you about what NOLF2 did right. The RPG elements were a GREAT addition. I remember agonizing at a couple of points in the game over which attributes I should increase, reloading the game again and again to try different things. That's a well-balanced attribute system. Also the fact that finding intelligence items actually gave you tangible benefits, that's a HUGE improvement over the original. Also add the much requested leaning and NOLF2 had huge potential.
I never noticed the voice acting (but then again I rarely do). I remember being disappointed when I read a different actress was doing Cate's voice but the new one turned out just fine. I never noticed Armstrong's voice at all.
Most people seem to love NOLF2 and it got universally great reviews. Maybe it was a great game if taken by itself. I was disappointed with it as a sequel, it didn't come close to living up to the original. The only part of NOLF2 I *really* loved were the first Japanese missions, which I have replayed several times. Most people felt those missions were the weakest which leads me to believe perhaps MOLF2 was designed for a very different audience. But I loved the atmosphere, it was stealthy and some of the stealth puzzles were EXTREMELY challenging. But especially the atmosphere of the whole set of levels. Those maps were sublime.
Yeah, the spawning enemies were crap. The gadgets were useless, I mean what good was the stun gun?? It made too much noise and your victim only remained unconscious for about a minute. I was very frustrated when I started playing the Japanese levels because I tried to stun everybody. Finally I gave up and used the crossbow and it was ever so much funner. I only used the exploding Kitties once, during the Japanese levels. But my biggest beef was the change in focus to guns-blazing combat. The Ohio ninja horde sucked. Defending Armstrong from the mime wave was crap. The Indian streets levels were tedious, though they were marginally stealthy levels they failed. Instead of well-crafted stealth puzzles they resorted to respawning to add difficulty and force you to be stealthy. That was a cop out.
I love stealth, I love non-linear games where you can choose your own path and solve problems in a variety of ways. In terms of pure gameplay that's what I loved about the original. But I suppose I'm in the minority and Fox has to cater to a wider audience.
(I was also very surprised that they came out with a full-blown sequel as quickly as they did. I always wondered if NOLF2 didn't turn out so well because it was rushed)
I would write more but nobody ever reads these things the next day anyway.
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| News Comments > NOLF2 Add-on & MP Plans |
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| 7. |
Good chance |
Mar 8, 2003, 18:14 |
Ratty |
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A good chance for Monolith to redeem itself with something worthy of the original. NO respawning enemies. A return to more stealthy gameplay. Spy gadgets that are actually useful. Music as good as in the original. And a return to dialog that is actually funny!
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| News Comments > Out of the Blue |
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| 10. |
Public accomodation |
Mar 6, 2003, 11:58 |
Ratty |
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The mall is a public accomodation. If you build a structure intended for public use then you are bound by certain well-established laws. You can't build a mall and ban, say, black people or jews from shopping there. You can do so in your own home, but not a mall, or office, or factory. That's the law, like it or not.
That being said, I suspect there's more to this story than is being reported.
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| News Comments > Morning Q&As |
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| 1. |
Digital Eel |
Feb 28, 2003, 12:45 |
Ratty |
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Hey! Two of those guys are older than me. I'm 40 and I figured no way could I break into the game business. If they could do it so could I!
Great interview. I love SAIS. My boss is out so maybe I'll sneak in a couple of quick games right now!
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340 Comments. 17 pages. Viewing page 15.
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